


Oh, But I Held On

by aestheticly_cat



Series: And I Love the Way You Say You're Scared to Hold Me [2]
Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Andy | Andromache of Scythia Needs a Hug, BAMF Nile Freeman, Blood, Canon Temporary Character Death, Canon-Typical Violence, Developing Relationship, F/F, Immortal Husbands Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, M/M, Team as Family, hand-wavey technology, she gets one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:07:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27910501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aestheticly_cat/pseuds/aestheticly_cat
Summary: Andy is still firing back at the oncoming mercenaries, face drawn tight with focus, with blood and viscera dripping off of her like a Jackson Pollock painting.Nile thinks she’s never looked more gorgeous.[Alternatively: Nile will do whatever it takes to keep Andy safe. Andy would rather die than see Nile get hurt. Only one of them is going to get what they want.]
Relationships: Andy | Andromache of Scythia/Nile Freeman, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Series: And I Love the Way You Say You're Scared to Hold Me [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2039214
Comments: 5
Kudos: 65





	Oh, But I Held On

Nile takes back every benevolent thought she’s ever had about Andy as she flies over said immortal’s shoulder.

She groans, spitting dirt and a little blood from her mouth, as she hoists herself up onto her palms and off of the ground that Andy had just flung her onto.

“Did you have to do it so hard?” Nile questions as she shakily gets to her feet, feeling like her brain has been scrambled.

Andy is looking unfairly unbothered, and entirely too put together when one considers they’ve been sparring for the past hour and a half.

“Yes. Yes, I did.”

Joe chortles from where he’s sprawled out in the grass observing them. Nicky, from his place on Joe’s chest, just shakes his head a little, a fond little smile on his lips.

“I’m surprised at you, Nile! This is not the attitude I would expect from the woman who fought so viciously on the plane,” Joe’s smiling, and Nile is struck, blindsided, by the happiness she feels at witnessing his joy. “That is, of course, if Andrea’s recounting of the event is accurate.”

Nile knows she’s being baited, recognizes a challenge when she sees one, but she’s never been one to back down from a fight; especially not if it means she gets to put her hands on Andy.

Andy is just waiting, arms at her sides, and to anyone but her family would seem completely at ease. Nile reads the tenseness in her shoulders, her hips, and knows she’s more than ready for anything Nile throws at her.

Nile knows she’s about to get her ass handed to her, on a silver fucking platter, again; probably more than once.

 _Definitely_ more than once.

She straightens up, raises her hands in front of her, and allows a rueful smile to spread across her face as Andy mirrors her pose.

She lasts longer this time, but only just.

The way Andy’s eyes go soft with approval are more than worth the wounds she receives in the process; they vanish in moments, but the warmth gained from Andy’s praise lasts all day and well into the night.

\----------

In hindsight, Nile realizes she should have known that crushing on the woman who, for all intents and purposes, is her commanding officer was a bad idea of epic proportions.

This observation is outstandingly true in the middle of gun battle in some country Nile has barely bothered to learn the name of. It doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is that she keeps herself between Andy and every single one of the bullets that are currently ricocheting all around them.

Her clip empties, and when her hand reaches to her combat belt to replace it, it comes up empty and Nile knows they are well and truly fucked.

Andy is still firing back at the oncoming mercenaries, face drawn tight with focus, with blood and viscera dripping off of her like a Jackson Pollock painting.

Nile thinks she’s never looked more gorgeous.

A quick glance around tells Nile that Joe and Nicky must still be dealing with their own shit on the other side of the compound. Which means, Andy is about to be severely pissed at her.

Nile reaches out to her left, and grabs the handle for one of the many safe rooms their target has installed for his personal safety, and yanks it open. She knew memorizing the compound’s floor plan wasn’t a waste of time.

Andy turns towards her at the noise, ducking further behind the crates they are currently using to shield themselves, a question forming on her lips.

Nile sees her opening and takes it.

She grips Andy’s upper arm right, and all but slings her into the safe room, wincing as the other woman loses her balance in her surprise and tumbles across the room’s carpeted floor. Nile rips the knife from her belt and buries it into the keypad on the inside of the door that would allow Andy to let herself out. Andy is on her feet when she drags the door shut, and Nile thinks that the betrayal and rage on her face hurts far worse than the death she’s about to receive.

She retakes her position by the crates, and waits as the mercenaries across the room move closer. She could have stayed in the safe room with Andy, but the mercenaries would have figured out where they were soon enough and Nile’s not sure how long the metal door would hold up under an onslaught. This way, maybe she can keep them distracted long enough for Joe and Nicky to get back.

When the first two men round the crates, and too many bullets to count tear through her, Nile’s last thought is one of insurmountable relief and righteous triumph.

‘ _You may have me, but you will never have her,_ ’ she thinks viciously as the world fades out around her.

She thinks she hears someone screaming her name, but for some reason, they sound very far away.

\----------

Coming back to life is unlike anything Nile has ever felt. It’s a re-birth, and another death, all at once. She thinks she’ll be looking for the words to describe it for the rest of her probably very long life. 

She gasps violently as her heart restarts, jackknifing up from the floor, and feels her clothes pull away from the floor where they’d stuck with her blood.

Nicky is hovering over her, murmuring to her in soft Italian, and even though she can’t understand all of what he’s saying, she feels herself settle. She’s safe.

 _Andy’s_ safe.

Speaking of, she turns towards the safe room and sees Joe standing in front of it, a blow torch in his hand as he steadily melts away at the door.

“Oh, shit,” Nile whispers.

Nicky nods sagely, with all the wisdom of an ancient Yoda.

“Yes, I would say that’s a fairly accurate assessment. She’s definitely going to kill you.”

Nile groans, slumping forward to put her head on her drawn-up knees. Nicky pats her back in sympathy.

“Despite how ill-advised this course of action was, Nile, I am very grateful to you,” Nicky says, quiet and solemn and so sincere that Nile has to lift her head to look at him. His sea-storm eyes are a lesson in adoration and Nile is reminded of how much she loves him. “You kept Andy safe when Joe and I could not. That is no small thing. I want you to know that.”

Nile leans forward and presses her forehead to his, that brief and familiar touch she’s seen him exchange with Joe and Andy in equal measure, and feels a starburst of joy in her chest when he leans into the touch.

A shout of delight from Joe draws their attention, and Nile scrambles to her feet as the door falls away with a jarring crash and Andy comes barreling through.

She blows past Joe, her eyes already locked on Nile, and Nile isn’t sure how to read the look on her face, but if the way Nicky steps away from her is any indication, it’s probably not good.

Andy closes in on her, and Nile braces herself for a punch, some form of violence meant to put her in her place. She closes her eyes, ready to accept whatever form of punishment Andy decides on, but all she feels is the firm line of Andy’s body colliding with her, and strong, sinewy arms wrapping around her.

Nile’s own arms hover awkwardly, uncertain if she’s allowed to return the embrace. A soft noise from Andy, unlike any she’s ever heard before, makes her decision for her and she holds her back with the same desperation as she herself is being held.

She sees Joe and Nicky step out of the room quietly, giving them a moment of privacy. It barely registers past the overwhelming feeling of finally having Andy as close as this.

“Do not ever do that again,” Andy’s voice is tight with fury, but underneath it Nile hears the fear that the trembling of Andy’s body betrays. Nile takes a moment to truly appreciate the trust this warrior woman must have for her to let her witness such vulnerability.

Nile thinks that even if she lives until the sun swallows the earth she might not be worthy of it.

But _goddamn_ is she going to try.

Nile doesn’t reply, just tucks her face into the juncture between Andy’s neck and shoulder, and breathes her in. Beneath the coppery tang of blood, Andy smells like the almond body wash she’s recently become obsessed with, and something in Nile shifts to make room for all the things she feels for the other woman.

“Did you hear me? You can’t ever do that again, Nile.”

Nile closes her eyes, hoping to extend this moment for as long as possible. She knows that any moment Andy will pull away and they will return to the song and dance that has become whatever it is that's between them, but they still have right now and she's willing to take what she can get.

“I heard you,” is all she says, and when Andy laughs, the sound is wet, and stunned, and incredulous.

Nile thinks that a single lifetime of listening to that sound will not be nearly enough.

But it’s as good of a place as any to start

**Author's Note:**

> Not super happy with how this turned out, but I couldn’t resist writing about Nile once again sacrificing herself for Andy. 
> 
> Let me know what you think or what you’d like to see moving forward! 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
